Definitely Maybe Not a Detective

In this delightfully charming rom-com mystery, a woman becomes accidentally entangled in a murder investigation (and with a handsome stranger) when her fake detective agency is enlisted to solve a real homicide.

Emersyn Gray is definitely not a detective.

Really, she's an unemployed twenty-eight-year-old raising her beloved niece in the only place she can afford after her ex-boyfriend ran off with her life savings: a run-down, seniors-only apartment complex that was desperate for tenants. But never fear--her wild best friend has the perfect plan to get Emersyn back on her feet and stick it to her thieving ex: scare him into returning her money by hiring a private investigator to prove he stole it. Only, there won't be an actual detective, just a fabricated business card from Wyatt Investigations . . . and a ridiculously hot stranger, who steps in to play the part--a stranger whose name is, coincidentally, Wyatt.

Emersyn can't help but notice the real-life Wyatt is capital H-O-T hot, even though she's wary of his intentions. But her ex does seem flustered, and if she can get her money back and regain control of her life, maybe it'll finally prove to her parents that she can be a responsible caregiver to her niece.

But the day after they set their plan in motion, the superintendent of Emersyn's apartment building winds up dead, and her neighbors turn to her fake detective agency for help after finding one of the phony business cards. With so many eyes on them--or maybe just their eyes on each other--Emersyn and Wyatt agree to take on the case. Now the question is, Can they solve the murder without getting tangled up in their own fictions--or each other?

"Fast-paced and quippy."--Catherine Mack, USA Today bestselling author of Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies

Author: Sarah Fox
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 01/06/2026
Pages: 352
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780593984253


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 09/01/2025 pg. 56
Booklist 10/01/2025
Publishers Weekly 11/10/2025

About the Author
Sarah Fox is the author of the USA Today bestselling Pancake House Mysteries, as well as the Music Lover's Mysteries, the Literary Pub Mysteries, the True Confections Mysteries, and the Magical Menagerie Mysteries. She was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she developed a love for mysteries at a young age. When not plotting (fictional) murders or doling out sardines to her mini panther (black cat), she is often reading her way through a stack of books or spending time outdoors with her English springer spaniel.